Particularities ofthe romantic genre of „duma" in the Slovak context

Abstract

In her study, the author tries to characterize the „duma“ as a genre which is considered typical of Slovak Romanticism, however, it has – suprisingly - remained underresearched to date. The „dumas“ by S. B. Hroboň and J. Kráľ were juxtaposed with the genre invariant in Russian and Polish literatures. Originally a long epic form was transformed, probably under the influence of the Polish context, into a short lyric form with a reflective or elegiac tone in the Slovak cultural enviroment. Instead of the images of heroic battles, battles of ideologies or romantic heroes´ inner struggles are depicted. On the one hand important figures whose deeds should be remembered are celebrated, on the other hand historical failures, the incapability to take advantage of a historical situation for the nation´s benefit are lamented. When a great deed proves to be impossible or an attempted deed fails, what becomes dominant is messianic tendencies, calls for destruction and anticipation of a great historical change being a destiny or God´s plan fulfilled. The genre of „duma“ is thus modified in Slovak Romanticism as a blend of the elegy and the (never written) epos. The primary cause of sorrow and mourning is not a loss, though, it is the romantic insufficiency, the absence of an ideal in the material world.

Keywords

• romanticism
• poetry
• genre
• duma